Reclining chair and hardware therefor



J. BONTEMPI ETAL RECLINING CHAIR AND HARDWARE THEREFOR May 16, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 16, 1958 JOSEPH BUA/TEMPI ALEX J KATZ.

May 16, 1961 J. BONTEMPI EIAL RECLINING CHAIR AND HARDWARE THEREFOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 16, 1958 INVENTORS. JOSEPH BOA/TEMP! ALEX .1. KA rz BY' Arm/ME).

May 16, 1961 J. BONTEMPI ETAL RECLINING CHAIR AND HARDWARE THEREFOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 16, 1958 INVENTORS. JOSEPH BONI'EMPI ALEX J2 1M 72.

Army/Ex United States Patent RECLINING CHAIR AND HARDWARE THEREFOR Joseph Bontempi, West Nyack, N.Y., and Alex J. Katz,

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

West Orange, N..l., assignors, by mesne assignments, to

Anton Lorenz, Ocean Ridge, Fla.

Filed Apr. 16, 1958, Ser. No. 729,008

15 Claims. (Cl. 155107) This invention relates to reclining chairs and hardware thereof. It is particularly related to a reclining chair provided with a head-rest.

An object of this invention is to provide a chair of the character described, having means to move the head-rest from an inoperative, retracted position below the upper end of the back-rest, to an operative extended position above the back-rest responsive to movement of the chair from upright toward reclining position, and to move the head-rest from operative position above the backrest to' inoperative position below the upper end of the backrest, responsive to movement of the br-ack-rest from reclining toward upright position. I I i Another object of the invention -is to provide a chair of the character described, in which the movement of the head-rest takes place in the first minor portion only of movement of the back-rest from upright to fully reclined position, and in the last minor portion only of movement of the back-rest from fully reclining to upright position,

whereby the head-rest will be in operative extended position while the chair is both in fully reclined condition, and also in positively reclining position or'in position for watching television. i

'Still another object of this invention is to provide 21 Pl strong, rugged and durable reclining chair con 'sti'uction of the character described, which shall be relativelyinexpensive to manufacture, smooth and positive in operation, and yet practical, efficient and comfortable in use.

Other objects of this invention will in part be' obvious 1 and in part hereinafter pointed out. i

,The invention accordingly consistsjin the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts, whichlwill be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope of invention will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings in; which is shown various illustrative embodiments of this invent-ion;

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a chair embodyingthe I I invention in upright position, with thehead-rest in retracted inoperative position; y i

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l, but showing the chair in reclined position with the head-rest extended in position for use;

Fig. 3 is a rear perspective view of the'frame for the back rest of the chair of Fig. l and illustratingthe mechanism for controlling movement of the head-rest responsive to movement of the'back-rest and seat of the chair, and showing the head-rest in extended position; l 1 Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the supporting frame and chair seat and back frames, and illustrating the retracted, inoperative or nonuse position'jof the head-rest; Fig. 4a is a perspective view of adetail of the head-rest control mechanism in its position of "Fig. 4.; l l

, Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 5 -5 of Fig. 4;

Fig.6 is a view similar to Fig."4 but showing the reclining position of the chair with thehead-rest extended; Fig. 6a is a perspective view of the detail" of Fig. 4d and showing the same in its position of Fig. 6; and

Referring now in detail to the drawing, 10 designates a reclining chair embodying the invention.

Said chair comprises a supporting frame 11 having side walls 12, front legs 13, rear legs 14, and a back wall 15. The chair further comprises a rigid seat and back-rest unit 16. Said unit comprises a seat frame 17 rigidly fixed at its rear end to the lower end of the backrest frame 18.

The seat frame may comprise side walls 19 connected at their front ends by walls 20 and 21, and at their rear ends by a bottom wall 22 projecting rearwardly of said frame. The back-rest frame 18 may comprise side walls 24 connected by an intermediate transverse rear bar 25 and an upper front transverse bar 26.

The seat and back-rest frames as well as the supporting frame 11 may be upholstered and finished and decorated in any suitable manner.

When the chair is in upright position, as shown in Fig. 4, the seat is tilted somewhat upwardly and forwardly and the back-rest is tilted upwardly and rearwardly.

Means is provided for pivot-ally connecting the seat and back-rest unit 16 to the supporting frame 11. To this end there isfixed to each side walls 19, a bracket 30 to which is fixed an arm 31 extending downwardly. Arms 3 l*are pivoted to side walls 12 on aligned pivot pins 32. In the upright position of the chair, wall 22 is located in spaced relation near the level of the upper end of wall 15 of the supporting frame. Said wall 15 is formed with an inner upwardly and rearwardly central beveled recessed surface 15a, for thepurpose hereinafter appearing. i s i I I a I Interconnected to the back-rest frame 18 is a head-rest frame 41. Said head-rest frame comprises a pair of parallel sidewalls 42 connected by a lower rear transverse=rod 43 and an upper forward transverse bar 44. The head-rest frame 41 may be upholstered and finished in any suitablemanner. I 1

Attached to the inner surface of end walls 42 are metal bars 46. Attached to the rear's'u-rface of transverse member 26 of the back rest frame are a pair of angle brackets 50 each having an outwardly extending flange 51 screwed to-said member, and rearwardly extending parallel flanges Pivoted to flanges 52 at the lower ends thereof as at 53, arearms 54.

Pivoted at their inner ends to the outer ends of arms 54, as at 55, are levers56, the outer end of which are pivotally connected as at 57 to the lower'ends of bars 46, as shown in Fig. 6. I I I Pi'voted to the upper ends of flanges 52, as at 58, are the inner ends of'levers 59 crossing and interpivotecl, as 'at 60, to levers 56. The upper ends of levers 59 are pivoted, as at 61, to links 62 which are in turn pivoted to'the upper ends of bars 46, as at 63. I i I i It will now be understood that the head-rest frame can be swung from the position of Fig. 4, behind the back-rest, facing rearwardly, and extending down from the upper end thereof, to the position of Figs. 3 and 6, wherethe head-rest is extended upwardly from the upper i end bf I, the back-rest, facing forwardly, in spaced relation rest from the retractedtothe extended position in"re-' sponse to movement of the .seat-back-Iest unit from inclined toward upright position, and from retracted to extended position, in response to movement of the unit from upright toward reclining position. To this'end there is fixed to the inner side of wall 15 at the center thereof, an angle'shaped bracket 70 having a flange, 70a inclined upwardly and forwardly and provided with an olfset pin 71 at its upper end, located above said wall and forwardly thereof.

Fixed to the upper side of wall 22 of unit 16, is an angle bracket 73 having an upwardly extending ear 74 to which is pivoted, as at 75, -a control latch 76. Latch 76 is in the shape of a bell crank lever having a rearwardly extending arm 77 and an upwardly and rearwardly extending arm 78. Arm 77 has at its rear end an upwardly extending finger 79. At the inner side of the junction between arms 77, 78 is a round notch 80. Arm 78 has a rear edge 81. Between edge 81 and finger 79 is a passage 82 communicating at its lower end with notch 80.;

Pivoted to the upper end of finger 79 as at 85 is the lower end of an elongated link 86 which extends up wardly in front of cross member 25. The upper end of link 86 is pivoted as at 87 to an arm 88 pivoted as at 89 to a bracket 90 fixed to the central rear faceof crossbar 26. In the position of Fig. 6 link 86 is received in recess 15a.

Arm 88 is formed with a horizontal through opening 91 through which passes a horizontal rod 92. Pivoted to the rear midportion of flange 52 as at 93, are curved arms 94. Pivots 93 and 89 are in horizontal alignment. The ends of rod 92 are fixed to intermediate portions of arms 94 as at 95. Arms 94 curve upwardly and rearwardly and then downwardly from pivots 93 and terminate in downwardly extending arms 96 connected by links 97 to intermediate portions of arms 54.

When the chair is upright (Fig. 4), pin 71 is in'notch 80, thereby retaining latch 76 in downwardly moving position. In such-position link 86 has been pulled down, having pulled down arm 88 and hence having swung rod92 down to swing curved arms '94 in a counterclockwise direction, thereby swinging arm 54 in a counterclockwise direction and causing the head-rest to be retained in downwardly and rearwardly swung position of non-use below the upper end of the back-rest and at the rear thereof.

Upon moving the chair from upright toward reclining position, during the first minor part of such movement (about first quarter of such movement) fixed pin'71 swing latch 76 upwardly (clockwise looking at Fig. 4) to push link 86 up and rotate curved arms clockwise or upwardly, thereby swinging arms 54 up to swing the head-rest frame to the extended, in-use position of Figs. 3 and 6.

As soon as pin 71 is out of notch 80, it will move through passage 82 and along the rear edge 81 of the latch 76, without further moving the latch or the headrest. The latch edge 81 is of such length that the pin 71 will not move therebeyond so that the latch cannot .move beneath said pin. Thus, the head-rest comes up during the first 25 or 30% of the total movement of the chair from upright to fully reclined position andremains up during the rest of the movement. 7

As the chair is moved from fully reclined position, pin 71 moves down, along the rear edge of latch 76 without affecting the latch or the head-rest. However, when pin 71 enters passage 82 and reaches arm 77, thelatch starts to be swung down toretract'the head-rest, and this occurs during the last 25 or 30% of the movement, from fully reclined to upright position.

Thus the head-rest remains in use during fully re.-

.-clined position and in the partially raised position usually used for watching television.

A foot-rest 100 may be ,provided and it may be proie t and r t actedinE na/suit bl well mwn. means!- Alth g th ba k-r t an set a i th i vestion may be embodied in construction in which the back rest and seat have relative movement.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which the several objects of this invention are achieved and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of P ac ica use As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that the matter set forth above or shown in the accompanying drawings is merely illustrative and is not to be interpreted in a limiting sense, the scope of the invention being delineated in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In combination, a supporting frame, a chair backrest, means to connect said back-rest to said supporting frame for movement relative to said supporting frame, a head-rest, linkage means mounting the head-rest on the back-rest and comprising an arm pivotally mounted on said back-rest, a lever pivoted at one end to the free end of said arm and at its other end to the upper portion of said head-rest, a second lever pivotally mounted at one end on said back-rest at a point above the pivotal mount of said arm on said back-rest and crossing and being interpivoted to said first lever, and a link pivoted at one end to the free end of said second lever and being pivotally connected at its other end to said head rest at a point located below the pivotal connection of saidfirst lever to said head-rest, whereby said head-rest may move from a position in "back of the back-rest facing downwardly and extending down from the upper end of the back-rest, to a position above the upper end of the back-rest extending upwardly and facing forwardly at the front sideof the back-rest, and actuating means responsive tomovement of said back-rest relative to said supporting frame in one direction and operatively connected to the linkage for actuating the latter and moving said head-rest from one of its positions to the other, said actuatingmeans being responsive to movement of said back-restrelative to the supporting frame in an opposite direction for moving said head-rest from its other position to its said one of said positions.

2. 'Ihe combinationof claim 1, said means including means to cause such movement of said head-rest relative to said back-rest during a minor portion only of said back-rest relativeto said supporting frame.

3. The combination of claim 1, said means comprising cooperative means on said supporting frame and arm for moving said arm upon moving said back-rest relative to said frame.

4.".Ihe combination of claim 2, comprising a second arm pivoted to said back-rest, a link connecting said arm with said first mentioned pivoted arm, a latch pivoted relative to said back-rest, link means connecting said latch with said second arm, and fixed means on said supporting frame for pivotally moving said latch responsive to movement of said back-rest relative to said supporting frame.

5. 'I he combination of claim 2, said means comprising a second arm'pivoted to said back-rest and connected to said first arm bya link, a latch pivoted to saidback-rest, said latch having a notch at its rear side, and an arm below said notch extending rearwardly of said notch, link means connecting said arm of said latch with said second arm, and a bracket fixed on said frame having a pin receivedin said notch.

6. The combination of claim 5, said latch having a rear edge extending upwardly from said notch adapted to beengaged by said pin aftersaid pin has moved out of said notch, and being of such length that the pin will not .move therebeyond.

7. In combination, a pair of brackets adapted to be attached to the upper end of aback-restfsimilar arms p ted on ali ed rivetp in .tos id br lsetssimilar levers pivoted to said arms, similar levers pivoted to said brackets and crossing and being interpivoted to said first levers, respectively, similar links pivoted to said second levers, bars adapted to be attached to a head-rest, and pivoted to said links and first levers, similar arms pivoted to said brackets and interconnected by a cross rod, similar links interconnecting said second mentioned arms to said first arms respectively, another bracket between said pair of brackets and adapted to be attached to said back-rest, another lever pivoted to said other bracket in alignment with the pivotal points of said second arms, and connected to said rod, still another bracket adapted to be fixed relative to the lower end of the back-rest, a latch pivoted to said last bracket, and a link connecting said latch with said other lever.

8. The combination of claim 7, in combination with a bracket adapted to be attached to a supporting frame for said back-rest and having a pin, and said latch having a rearwardly opening notch adapted to receive said pin.

"9. The combination of claim 8, said latch having a rear edge above said notch adapted to be engaged by said pin.

10. The combination of claim 8, in combination with a bracket adapted to be fixed to a seat rigid with said back-rest, and provided with means to pivotally connect the seat to the supporting frame.

11. In a reclining chair having a support frame and a rigid seat and back-rest unit mounted on said support frame for movement between an upright position and a rearwardly-tilted position; a head-rest, linkage means mounting said head-rest on the upper end of said backrest for movement between a lowered retracted position and a raised extended position, and drive means coupled to said head-rest linkage means for actuating the latter in response to movement of said seat and backrest unit, said drive means including a double arm lever pivotally mounted on said unit and carried thereby, said lever having an upstanding arm and a rearwardly extending arm, a fixed element mounted on said support frame to the rear of said lever and engaging the upstanding of said lever for pivoting the upstanding lever arm forwardly and the rearwardly-extending arm upwardly when the unit is moved rearwardly toward its tilted position relative to the support frame, and coupling means connecting the rearwardly-extending arm of said lever to said head-rest linkage means for actuation of the latter to move the head-rest to its extended position when said upstanding lever arm is pivoted forwardly, said upstanding lever am having a planar rear surface and an inwardly-extending slot communicating with said rear surface at the lower end thereof, said fixed element comprising a follower positioned to ride along said rear surface and sized to be received in said slot in the upright position of the body-supporting unit.

12. In a reclining chair having a support frame and a rigid seat and back-rest unit mounted on said support frame for movement between an upright position and a rearwardly-tilted position; a head-rest, linkage means mounting said head-rest on the upper end of said backrest for movement between a lowered retracted position and a raised extended position, and drive means coupled to said head-rest linkage means for actuating the latter in response to movement of said seat and back-rest unit, said drive means including a double arm lever pivotally mounted on said unit and carried thereby, a fixed element on said support frame engaging one arm of said lever and arranged to pivot the lever on said unit when the unit is moved relative to the support frame, and coupling means connecting the other arm of said lever to said head-rest linkage means, said coupling means comprising a crank member carried by the back-rest and connected to the head-rest linkage means for actuating said linkage means to move the head-rest when the crank member is turned, and means operatively connecting said other arm of the lever to said crank member 13. In a reclining chair having a support frame and a rigid seat and back-rest unit mounted on said support frame for movement between an upright position and a rearwardly-tilted position; a head-rest, and means mounting said head-rest on said back-rest for movement between a retracted position and an extend-ed position, said mounting means comprising a first link pivotally connected to the upper end of the head-rest in the retracted position of the latter, a second link pivotally connected to the head-rest at a point spaced below the pivotal connection of the first link to the head-rest, a third link pivotally connected at one end to the second link and pivotally mounted at its other end on the back-rest, and a fourth link pivotally connected at one end to the first link and pivotally mounted at its other end on the backrest at a point below the pivotal mount of the third link on said back-rest, the first link crossing over an intermediate portion of the third link and being pivotally connected thereto at its crossing-over point, and drive means mounted on the body-supporting unit and support frame and connected to one of the third and fourth links for pivoting the same about its pivotal mount on the back-rest in response to rearward movement of the unit toward its rearwardly'tilted position, whereby to extend the mounting means and move the head-rest from its retracted position to its extended position.

14. In a reclining chair having a support frame and a rigid seat and back-rest unit mounted on said support frame for movement between an upright position and a rearwardly tilted position; a head rest, and means mounting said head rest on said back-rest for movement between a retracted position behind said back-rest and depending from the top thereof and an extended inverted position above and forwardly of the back-rest, said mounting means comprising a constrained linkage including a first link pivotally connected to the upper end of the head rest in the retracted position of the latter, a second link pivotally connected to the head-rest at a point spaced below the pivotal connection of the first link to the head-rest, a third link pivotally connected at one end to the second link and pivotally mounted at its other end on the back-rest, and a fourth link pivotally connected at one end to the first link and pivotally mounted at its other end on the back-rest at a point below the pivotal mount of the third link on said back-rest, the first link crossing over an intermediate portion of the third link and being pivotally connected thereto at its crossing-over point, and drive means mounted on the body-supporting unit and support frame and connected to one of the third and fourth links for pivoting the same about its pivotal mount on the back-rest in response to rearward movement of the unit toward its rearwardlytilted position, whereby to extend the constrained and move the head-rest from its retracted position through an angle of substantially to its extended position.

15. An assembly according to claim 1.4 in which said drive means includes a double-arm lever pivotally mounted on the seat and back-rest unit and carried thereby, a fixed element on said support frame engaging one arm of said double-arm lever and arranged to pivot the latter on said unit when the unit is moved relative to the sup port frame, and a linkage operatively connecting the other arm of said lever to said fourth link.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 242,733 Yengling June 7, 1881 2,843,183 Luckhardt July 15, 1958 2,843,184 Lorenz July 15, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 979,923 France Dec. 13, 1950 

